Northeast Strong: IICF Benefit Event Topples Attendance Record

The seventh annual benefit dinner sponsored by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Northeast division drew record attendance of more than 1,000 attendees to the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on Dec. 11, 2013.

At the event, the organization announced 16 charitable grants totaling $879,000. Since 2007, the annual fundraiser has led to grants totaling more than $4.5 million in focus areas including education, children at risk, disaster preparedness and the environment.

Foundation Awards 16 Grants, Honors Ironshore

Accepting the 2013 “Double I” award for influence in the industry and impact in the community was Ironshore CEO Kevin H. Kelley (left) from Brandon Sweitzer, dean of St. John’s School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science, who served as dinner chair.

Speakers and IICF leaders celebrated at the IICF benefit event:

• Adrianne Haslet-Davis (left, with Air Force Major Adam Davis, her husband), professional dance instructor and survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing. She accepted a grant to The One Fund Boston, formed to assist victims and families affected by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.
• ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff. He accepted a grant to his nonprofit organization, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which supports injured U.S. service members, veterans and families.
• Tennis legend John McEnroe. He accepted a grant to Riverkeeper, an environmental organization.
• Betsy Myatt, IICF Northeast executive director; Lisa Tepper, chair of IICF NE division and president of the Downstate New York/New Jersey region for The Travelers Companies; and IICF NE board member Hank Watkins, president, Lloyd’s America.

Adrianne Haslet-Davis, professional dance instructor and survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, spoke to a IICF Northeast division benefit dinner guest after accepting a grant to The One Fund Boston, formed to assist victims and families affected by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.

The IICF Northeast division honored Ironshore with its 2013 “Double I” award for influence in the industry and impact in the community. CEO Kevin H. Kelley (at lectern) accepted the award on behalf of Ironshore at the event. He remarked: “Our industry is a first responder. We pay cash under conditions generally of utmost adversity. Trust is implicit. The industry’s character is revealed when adversity — such as a hurricane, earthquake, and terrorist event – hits. We help make that first step to recovery. Trust is the promise which makes this industry extraordinary.”